Tag Archives: Records Race

As some of you may have noticed, the USAWA Record List is now available on the USAWA website. It is placed under the top heading section “record list”. I will try to keep an updated version of the record list uploaded. The record list is very large PDF of the excel file. It may take a while for some systems to download it. There are now over 10,000 records in the USAWA Record List.

It has also been awhile since I have updated the Century Club, a listing that includes all lifters that have over 100 USAWA Records. It’s been over a year since I have published this update – but since there has been no real changes in it, there has not been much reason to do so. The “top ten” is exactly the same order, and no one new has been added. The BIG NEWS of the list is that Denny Habecker has become the FIRST USAWA lifter to top 500 records! That’s a big number, and has given Denny a huge lead over Art Montini. The biggest placing changer in the Mens Club has been Dean Ross, who has moved up two places to number 11. Ruth Jackson is closing in on Noi – and I predict will pass her within the next couple of years. The sad news is USAWA legend John Vernacchio has dropped out of the Century Club, leaving the total number at 24.

Susan Sees (left) and Bob Geib (right) at the 2013 USAWA National Championships. At this meet Bob eclipsed 100 USAWA records and joined the Century Club.

The Presidential Cup is coming up fast (THIS WEEKEND)! It is hosted by our USAWA President Denny Habecker at his gym, Habeckers Gym, in Lebanon, PA.

I have my plane ticket bought and ready to “join in” this premier Record Day event in the USAWA. The Presidential Cup is modeled after the IAWA Gold Cup, to allow each lifter to showcase their favorite and best lifts. There will be a champion crowned. As per rules of this event, the President is the one to make the decision on which Record Lift performed impresses him the most and that person will be awarded the Champion of the Presidential Cup. Last year at the inaugural USAWA Presidential Cup the late Dale Friesz was awarded the Championship trophy. Everyone was in agreement that Dale rightfully deserved this honor. Dale will forever be known as the FIRST PERSON to be crowned the champion of the Presidential Cup.

It has been awhile since I have given an update on the Records Race and the members of the Century Club. After doing a little figuring, I was surprised to see the number of record increases and the new members of the Century Club. I should have recognized a few lifters before now! The Century Club has now grown to 25 members (from 23 on last count). I accurately predicted recent Hall of Famer Bob Geib would be joining the list after his latest resurgence in the USAWA, and Ruth Jackson has came out of nowhere to join the Century Club!! Ruth has had a stellar year in the USAWA – capped by winning Overall Best Female Lifter at the IAWA World Championships last October. Congratulations to both of these two for this accomplishment. Since the list has now grown, I am going to break it down into two listings – one for women and one for the men.

WOMEN’S CENTURY CLUB
(as of August 7th, 2013)

RANK

LIFTER

CURRENT RECORDS

PREVIOUS COUNT

CHANGE

1

Noi Phumchona

263

265

– 2

2

Ruth Jackson

180

new

——

3

Mary McConnaughey

117

117

0

MEN’S CENTURY CLUB
(as of August 7th, 2013)

RANK

LIFTER

CURRENT RECORDS

PREVIOUS COUNT

CHANGE

1

Denny Habecker

480

447

+ 33

2

Art Montini

425

413

+ 12

3

Al Myers

411

396

+ 15

4

John McKean

291

292

– 1

5

Dennis Mitchell

266

260

+ 6

6

Frank Ciavattone

265

262

+ 3

7

Joe Garcia

238

243

– 5

8

Bob Hirsh

229

229

0

9

Chad Ullom

200

195

+ 5

10

Bill Clark

198

200

– 2

11

Howard Prechtel

174

175

– 1

12

Dale Friesz

160

162

– 2

13

Dean Ross

155

132

+ 23

14

Jim Malloy

153

153

0

15

Scott Schmidt

151

148

+ 3

16

John Monk

148

148

0

17

Ed Schock

138

142

– 4

18

Chris Waterman

137

137

0

19

Rudy Bletscher

131

126

– 5

20

Mike Murdock

107

104

+ 3

21

John Vernacchio

102

105

– 3

22

Bob Geib

102

new

———

As you can see there are no “major changes” at the top of the Century Club. Denny has stretched his lead over Art to such a degree that I won’t even call it a records race anymore between them (I’m calling you out Art to kick it in gear a bit!!! haha). Denny has added the more records to his count since the previous count (33 records) than anyone else. He is on pace to break the 500 barrier by the end of this year! I also added a “change” number to this list. That is how much the lifter’s record count has changed since the last count. You have to remember these are absolute counts, so you may think you have set more records than listed (which is probably true), but some of the records you previously owned might be getting broken in the process. The only way to keep going forward is to add more records than you are losing – and that is only accomplished by meet participation! I’ll again mention Art here – as I know Denny is getting great satisfaction out of breaking Art’s records in the 70/85 KG class, thus adding one for himself and taking one away from Art at the same time!!!

I’m getting to pride myself of making predictions on who the next Century Club members will be. I have been pretty much “right one” with every one. Now let me make my next predictions. Pretty easy if you ask me – it will go to a Ciavattone, either Joe Sr., Joe Jr., or Jeff. They are all “knocking on the door” of getting 100 USAWA records on the books. Now don’t let me down guys on this!!!

I’m looking forward to celebrating the USAWA this weekend at the Presidential Cup. See everyone there!

Joe Garcia is moving up the Record List Count faster than anyone else! This past year he has went from 9th to 5th. This picture is from the 2011 Heavy Lift Nationals in York, PA where Joe added another USAWA record in the Hand and Thigh with this 1400 pound lift. Joe has more H & T records (17 total) than anyone else, everywhere from the 90 KG class to the 110 KG class.

A couple of years ago I tagged the term “Century Club” as a way of identifying lifters who currently hold over 100 USAWA Records. It has been a while since I have given an update on these record-setting lifters, so I think it is time I revisit this topic again. I believe it has been a year (after last year’s National Championship) that I gave my last update on the current members in this Century Club. I know I have highlighted the “records race” between Denny and Art a few times since, but now since Denny has stretched his lead over Art 401 USAWA records to Art’s 378 USAWA Records, the drama with this has been subdued and the records race has taken a seat on the sidelines until Art starts to make “a run” on Denny.

The Century Club is an ever-changing list, and it changes constantly. It is based on CURRENT records, so it is possible to be on the list and then if some of your records are broken, you may fall out of the club. I sadly report this has been the case this past year. John Vernacchio’s record count has fallen to 97 records, and now he is out of the Century Club. No one new has joined since Scott Schmidt in the fall of 2009! Scott was sitting at the number 20 spot when he made the Century Club in December 2009, climbed to spot 17 after last year’s Nationals, and now resides at the 15 spot. By John falling off the list, the Century Club now stands at 19 members. Who will be the next to join?? Two Dino Gym members are “knocking at the door” of accomplishing this. Rudy Bletscher just BARELY missed the list this time as he currently stands at 99 USAWA Records. Chad Ullom made a big push on his USAWA records this past year and now has 97 records. With Chad hitting the Masters Class next year that will open up the record book for him to set more records as he will then be eligible for age group records. I got my money on both of these guys to make the Century Club this summer!

There were some changes in the orders and number counts, but the same names hold the Century Club down. The top four spots on the list remained the same. The biggest dropper was Bill Clark, as he dropped from the number 5 spot to 10th with only a decrease of records from 214 to 199. I know the reason for Bill’s decrease in records as I’ve been lifting with this guy in meets all winter and have watched him break several of Bill’s records. I’m talking about Mike Murdock. The biggest increaser on the list is our USAWA Records Chairman Joe Garcia. Joe added several new records this past year and moved from the number 9 spot to 5th overall with 226 records. Dennis Mitchell notched up one spot to number 6. Take notice of all the USAWA Hall of Famers who are members of the CENTURY CLUB (marked with a *).

I’m finally able to relax and reflect upon the great weekend of lifting this past weekend at the Dino Gym. It’s surprising how much needs to be done AFTER a competition – equipment needs fixed and put away, the gym cleaned and picked up, meet reports and results written for the website, and of course nursing all the aches and pains I self-inflicted upon myself once again.

Mike Murdock, of Ledaig Heavy Athletics, sets the most USAWA Records over this past weekend at the Dino Gym.

If anyone notices any mistakes in the meet results please let me know. It is easy to fix – and I PREFER for everything to be correct. It is very easy for a mistake to happen – poor handwriting that I can’t read, a lift written down wrong, etc. I know of instances in the past (before this website) where mistakes got recorded and never changed, and thus these “errors” go down in history as “the fact”. What are you saying Al??? Yes I said it – some RECORDS in the Record List are not legit!!! With this website, and the ability to post results immediately and correct them immediately if needed, those type of mistakes are not tolerable anymore.

Now on to more pleasant things. I finally got the weekend record count done. WOW – as the Daily News Story says, “Records Go Down Last Weekend” – that is an understatement. On Saturday at the USAWA National Grip Championships a total of 32 new USAWA records were set. On Sunday at the Dino Gym Record Day, a total of 113 USAWA records were set by the 11 participants (105 individual records and 8 team records). That’s a LOT!!! Joe G (the USAWA Record Keeper) will have to burn the midnight oil getting all that in the list!! The top record day in the USAWA last year belonged to the JWC Record Breakers last October where 109 USAWA records were set. (I’m not saying we topped them, but I DID have to mention this fact because I’m a forthright news reporter). This year’s Dino Gym Record Day now becomes the TOP record day in the history of the USAWA in regards to number of USAWA records broken in a record day. The TOTAL USAWA records for the weekend was an amazing 145 records. Mike Murdock lead the way for the weekend with a total of 27 records set. Mike started the weekend off as 70 years old and ended the weekend at 71 years old. What a great weekend of lifting he had to celebrate his birthday.

Denny Habecker, of the 2010 USAWA Club of the Year Habecker's Gym, deserves a rest after a busy weekend of setting records. Denny has the MOST records in the USAWA with 399.

Denny Habecker now has a commanding lead over Art Montini in the RECORDS RACE. With the 18 records Denny set this past weekend, he now leads Art 399 to 370. If only Denny knew he needed only 1 more record to hit the 400 barrier I’m sure he would have done it!!

Between the time span of less than 10 days, 150 new records were established in the USAWA. This has to be a record in itself – I never remember this many new records in such a short time span. Pity poor Joe Garcia as the Official USAWA Record Keeper! He will be “burning the midnight oil” updating our USAWA Record List. It all started with Thom Van Vleck’s JWC Record Breaker on October 29th, where a goal was established of setting over 100 records. They achieved this with ease, and then on November 6th, where two USAWA meets were contested on the same day – the Backbreaker and the Gold Cup – more records fell by the wayside.

I was hoping 2010 would be the YEAR OF RECORDS – where the most USAWA Records were established in one year. So far – and I have been counting – we are at 561 records for 2010. As I stated in a previous Daily News story, the most in a year is 702 (which occurred in 2005). We are not out of time yet – so maybe there’s a chance?? All it would take is for Thom to host another record day and he could do it ALL by himself!!

But the real question is this – who’s leading in the RECORD RACE between Denny “the Prez” Habecker and Art “the Man of Steel” Montini? Denny pulled a “fast one” on Art at the Gold Cup by breaking one of Art’s records. Art even commented to Denny at the meet about this “trick” – by not just adding to his total, but taking away from Art’s! I can’t stand the suspense – so here it is!!

#1. Denny Habecker – 378 USAWA Records

#2. Art Montini – 369 USAWA Records

Denny Habecker used a little brains, along with brawn, to stay ahead of Art Montini in the USAWA Records Race. At the 2010 Gold Cup, Denny broke Art's record of 143 pounds in the Arthur lift with a lift himself of 154 pounds.

On the last count, Denny was at 369 records compared to Art’s 362 records. So he’s stretched his lead. That was a couple of month’s ago. It is a good thing Denny is not “just taking it easy on the coach” or Art would have passed him!! I will keep everyone informed of this ongoing saga between these two old IRON-SLINGERS who are both showing no signs of slowing down!!